


Beginnings

by TrixieBastard



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 04:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2454176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrixieBastard/pseuds/TrixieBastard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How did the gang become the gang?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beginnings

“Arnold, your friends are here!”

 

At the sound of his mum’s voice, Arnie looked up and grinned. He dropped the ViewMaster he’d been having no luck with (it kept jamming up) and ran to the door, where Archie and Finn were waiting as usual. Sometimes, especially during the summer holidays like it was now, it felt like they practically lived here with him. He thought his mum was okay with it since he’d been friends with them forever – it was almost four years already since he’d met them on the first day of primary. They’d been his best mates ever since.

 

“C’mon, I wanna show you guys somethin’ in the yard,” Arnie said by way of greeting. Finn and Archie followed him through the house and out of the rear door, promising Mrs. Peters that they would be careful and play safely. Once they were outside, Arnie grinned and pointed at his newest toy.

 

“Your mum let you have a  _skateboard_?” Archie asked, his eyes wide behind his horn-rimmed glasses. “Mine won’t even let me touch one,” he added, running a hand down the smooth wooden deck. “Have you tried it yet?”

 

“’Course he’s tried it, ya knobhead,” Finn scoffed. Arnie pretended not to notice how his friend’s voice had gone a bit quiet on the ‘knobhead’, instinctually making sure he wouldn’t be heard by any adults. “Didja fall, Arn?”

 

“Yeah, but don’t tell me mum. She weren’t very happy when me dad got it for me ‘cause she thinks I’m still a baby.” He kicked at the grass, making his feelings on the matter plain. A moment passed, then a defiant grin flashed across his face as he looked back up at the other two.  “So, you guys wanna go down to the park and try it?”

 

With Archie and Finn’s enthusiastic grins serving as an answer, Arnie opened the back door and stuck his head inside. “Goin’ to ride bikes to the park, Mum!” Fortunately, this was a typical destination for the three boys, and Mrs. Peters didn’t question them before giving them the okay to go. The three boys walked around the outside of the house to keep the skateboard hidden from Mrs. Peters, then quickly hopped on their bikes and pedaled madly for the park, the board tucked firmly under Arnie’s arm.

 

They had pulled up to the basketball court and were lowering their kickstands when Archie nodded over to the left.

 

“Hey, who’s that?”

 

Arnie looked around to see a small ginger girl sitting alone on the swingset, legs pumping back and forth as she propelled herself in ever-higher arcs. He shrugged. “She just moved in next door where Al used to live.” He handed the skateboard to Finn, who suddenly didn’t look too sure about taking a turn on it.

 

“Your mum’s gonna go off her trolley if one o’ us comes back hurt,” he reasoned as he set the board on the tarmac.

 

“So you don’t know who she is?” Archie asked, ignoring Finn.

 

Arnie sighed. “Nope. Don’t really care neither. Now are we gonna skateboard?”

 

“But she probably doesn’t know anyone yet. She’s over there alone.”

 

“So? She’s a girl. Girls don’t skateboard,” Arnie shot back, clearly growing annoyed with Archie. “Must mean Finn’s a bird ‘cause he’s too scared to try it!” he added, awarding Finn with a huge gap-tooth grin.

 

“Oh yeah? Alrigh’, Arn, why don’t ya show me an’ Arch how it’s done, then?” Finn shot back, removing his foot from the top of the deck. “I mean, if you’re not ‘fraid of fallin’ off again.”

 

The words of challenge had brought Archie’s attention back to his friends, and he and Finn watched as Arnie stepped over and planted one foot resolutely on the board. Arnie sent a silent prayer up before kicking off, the hard wheels jostling over the uneven tarmac. He managed to keep his balance and pushed off again. Deciding he was tempting fate, Arnie shifted his weight to the foot he’d kept hovering over the ground, allowing the skateboard to roll the last few inches without him on board.

 

“See? Easy,” he boasted, turning around and giving a shrug as if he hadn’t been fearing a neck-breaking fall the entire time he’d had those wheels under him. “Now you gonna try it, Finny lad?”

 

“Yeah, but only to make you put a sock in it,” Finn muttered, jogging over to where the skateboard had come to rest. Arnie watched as Finn turned the board around, pointing it back towards where their bikes stood in a row. Taking a breath, he put his left foot where he’d seen Arn place his and pushed off with the right.

 

For a split second, Arnie thought Finn might be okay, until one of the front wheels hit a crack in the pavement. The small jolt was enough to cause Finn’s balance to shift and he overcompensated, which sent the board shooting out from underneath his foot. Finn was too surprised to react well, and before he could fling his arms up to protect himself, his face collided with the ground.

 

Shocked blue eyes met bespectacled ones for a moment, Arnie muttering a stream of  _oh shit_ s under his breath as he and Archie began running to where Finn lay. Archie was there first and knelt down to roll his friend over and assess the damage. Evidently Finn heard Archer suck in his breath, since he groaned, “Bad?”

 

“Bad,” Archie confirmed as Arnie’s  _oh shit_ s got louder. His mum was going to… actually, there were no words for how angry she was going to be. And what about Finn’s mum? Would she ever even let Finn come over to his again? As Archie pulled the hem of Finn’s tee up to try and staunch the blood flow, a small voice piped up from behind Arnie.

 

“Oh my god, is he okay?”

 

Arnie turned to see the ginger girl looking on with a worried frown furrowing her brow.

 

“’Course he’s not okay, lookit ‘im!” Arnie cried, gesturing wildly to Finn and his bloody cheek.

 

The girl gave him a hurt look before walking up to Archie. “My mum’s really good at making stuff like this better,” she said, peering at Finn. “She’s a nurse.”

 

Arnie and Archie exchanged a quick glance, then Archie nodded. “That would be really cool,” he said, standing before taking Finn by the arm and helping him up. “Finn, you can’t ride, can you?”

 

At Finn’s head shake, Archie looked at the girl. “Can you ride his bike back for us? He can sit on my handlebars until we get to your house.”

 

Arnie was glad that Archie could keep a level head when things like this happened. If it had just been him and Finn, he’d probably find a way to make the cut worse before they got back home  _and_  would have left their bikes behind. It was a good thing that the neighbor girl was there too so that Finn’s bike could come back. And maybe if her mum was a nurse, she could make it look like nothing happened? But no, there was all that blood… yeah, his mum was never going to trust them again.

 

The four of them were sitting in his neighbor’s kitchen before anybody thought to ask the girl her name.

 

“Izzy,” she answered as her mother walked Finn to the loo. “I know that’s Finn,” she said, jutting her chin towards the chair where Finn had been sitting, “but I don’t know your names.”

 

“I’m Archie, this is Arnie.”

 

Izzy giggled. “Archie and Arnie? Isn’t that confusing? They sound so alike.”

 

Arnie nodded. “Sometimes. You need a new name, Archibald.”

 

Archie aimed a kick at Arnie for the use of his full name, which set Izzy and Arnie laughing. The two boys began incessantly teasing each other, much to the delight of Izzy, who was red from laughing. It wasn’t until Izzy’s mum walked Finn back into the kitchen that they stopped teasing and stood to get a good look at Finn’s face.

 

“You’re gonna get a scar, I think” Arnie said with a groan. “Never gonna see you again, Finny. Your mum is going to go mad.”

 

“Especially if she sees your shirt,” Archie added. “You got one he can borrow, Arn?”

 

“Yeah, but won’t she notice you’re wearin’ somethin’ different, Finn?”

 

Finn shrugged. “Dunno, but anything’s better than my shirt, yeah?”

 

Izzy’s mum hid a smile as the boys plotted their way to get into as little trouble as possible. “Well, whatever you decide, I want you washing that cut every day, Finn. With soap,” she added sternly. “I don’t care how much it stings. That sting is good for you, as long as you make sure it’s all rinsed out, okay?”

 

At Finn’s nod, the three boys thanked Izzy’s mother for her help. She waved them off, and the four kids walked outside. As Finn and Archie grabbed their bikes, Arnie turned to the girl.

 

“Er, if Finn isn’t grounded, you want to come to the park with us tomorrow?”

 

“Okay!” With her single word, she turned and went back inside.

 

“She seems alright,” Archie said after Izzy closed her door.

 

Arnie shrugged. “Guess so. For a girl.” 


End file.
